Banished-Directed by Marco Williams. This intriguing and informative film documents the consequences of three communities that banished African Americans from their homes back in 1901. In both a moral and ethical sense, those whose property were taken from their family because of racism in the early 20th Century ought to get it back or at least to get some monetary compensation. Director Marco Williams comes across the legal term of “adverse possession” which means that the property belongs to the owner who has lived there for a long period of time even if he/she has stolen it. It’s quite intriguing and moving when an African American tries to dig up an unmarked grave to find evidence of his great-grandfather’s remains. Within that town and others, Williams finds racism when he meets the townspeople who have no shame admitting that they chose to live there because it’s an all-white town. Screens on June 9th, 3:45 PM. Entertainment Value: High. Spiritual Value: High. Opens October 10th, 2007 at the Film Forum.

The Unforeseen-Directed by Laura Dunn. Just like a good lawyer, director Laura Dunn proves the vitality of preserving Barton Springs in Austin, TX and nature in general while showing the battle between greedy real estate developers and environmentalists who care about preservation and think about developments’ deleterious effects on nature in the long run. The contrasting footage of the beauty and serenity of Barton Springs before all the development and its ugly, murky water post-development speaks volumes about the threat to the environment, and the ecosystem, concurrently. Dunn wisely includes balanced interviews with politicians, land developers as well as Robert Redford, who produced this film along with Terrence Malick. The Unforeseen joins An Inconvenient Truth, Manufactured Lanscapes and even The Gods Must Be Crazy as powerful, visually stunning films with important messages about the environment and the ongoing struggle between man and nature. Screens on June 10th, 6 PM. Entertainment Value: High. Spiritual Value: High. Released by the Sundance Channel and will be debut on it in early 2008.
Glue- Directed by Alexis Dos Santos. Three young, glue-sniffing adolescents, Lucas (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), Nacho (Nahuel Viale), and Andrea (Inés Efron) come of age in a small Argentinean town. This tedious coming-of-age film says nothing new about adolescents nor does it have any interesting or poignant moments. Too many scenes feel either exploitative and pretentious or simply pointless. Moreover, writer/director Alexis Dos Santos includes nauseating cinematography using digital or Super 8 as a medium with many shaky camera movements. His unimaginative script with minimal character development makes for an excruciatingly dull experience, especially at an excessive running time of 110 minutes. Entertainment Value: High. Spiritual Value: High. Released by Picture This! Entertainment. No release date, yet.